Green Initiatives

(Recent News)

Guest Services, Inc. was recently nominated by the National Park Service National Capital Region for the “2006 Cooperative Conservation Award.” The focus of this nomination is Guest Services’ newly-constructed food and retail kiosks at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC.

Located immediately adjacent to the Memorial, the 4600 sq. ft. kiosks possess a climate control operating system that maintains the natural beauty of the park with no unsightly outdoor condensing units or polluting vapor plums from the furnace, while providing greatly increased energy efficiency. The system uses 17 Geo-thermal wells, 300 feet deep and is computer software controlled.

The design team used a combination of proven techniques to create flexible and energy efficient heating and air conditioning systems. The pumping system uses variable frequency drives, automatic balancing, and isolation valves to reduce pumping costs (pumps operate at a ninety-six efficiency rate). The heating and air conditioning systems will ensure occupant comfort and indoor air quality with low energy consumption and almost no environmental impact. The amount of refrigerant required for air conditioning systems, coolers, and freezers was reduced by 46 percent compared to conventional systems. No fossil fuels are burned at the site for space heating resulting in reduced greenhouse emissions. By incorporating the ice machine into the geothermal system, we have determined that we are conserving 2.1 million gallons of fresh water a year!

“We believe we have met our partners’ needs by providing energy efficiency and conservation,” said Dan Maillet, Guest Services’ Director of Environmental Management.

The Geo-Thermal heat pump system is not in itself a new technology, since the heat pumps have been in existence for more than fifty years. What is relatively innovative is the application of heat pumps with closed loop, vertical pipes, and earth-coupled heat exchangers. The earth coupled geothermal heat pump systems do the job that conventional heating and air conditioning systems do, but with 36% less energy consumption and with less pollution to the environment. Standard equipment such as furnaces, air conditioning systems, and condensers are no longer required.

Both buildings were designed by Oehrlein & Associates Architects under the supervision and approval of Guest Services, Inc., the National Park Service, the National Capital Planning Commission and the National Commission of Fine Arts.

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